Crafting Supply Cabinet

The first “big” project was really born out of a need for crafting “stuff” storage. Since I haven’t really hit on the thing that really piques my interest, I have been dabbling in a little of everything. So, as I collected ingredients, I just kept them in a relatively tidy pile on the floor in front of the television. Well, we all know that wouldn’t work for long, being the fastidious and insanely organized person that I am. I soon graduated to baskets, but was using several large ones and that didn’t lend itself to keeping things grouped for their intended projects. One day as I was wandering through Target, I ran across these awesome red (yes, if it’s in the living/dining room and kitchen, it would have to be red and/or white) pails that I scooped up for a buck apiece. It went quickly from 5 to 10 to 15.

Of course, now they occupy way too much of the floor space and is just aesthetically just a mess! This just wouldn’t do. Thus was born, the first big project.

Now, I have always been a big fan of estate sales (much better than garage and yard sales) and usually contain the entire contents of a person’s house. From the mundane to fantastic finds, it is all based on what you’re looking for.

The most recent outing, about three weekends ago, I stumbled onto an interesting collection. Two big things caught my eye. I usually am interested in smaller items such as sewing notions and buttons. Books, dishes, cookery, old linens (especially unfinished embroidery towels and pillow cases), picture frames… these are the kinds of items that catch my eye and my fancy. This particular sale had a fair amount of furniture and not the fine antiques and never sat on chairs. One piece caught my eye… an old china hutch I estimate being from the 30’s… it wasn’t very large or very deep, built for those small 900 square foot homes. It stood about 5 feet and just had the most awesome wood carving in the front of the piece. I had to have it!

Most estate sales will have a 50% day and sometimes even a 66% or 75% off day… usually the last day and usually towards the end of the day. We were a day early for the 50% day and they were still asking for $100. As I looked at it and envisioned what could be done with it, I found a small pile of more items that I would like. I soon had collected nearly $250 worth. This was just too much to spend. So I opted to leave what I had collected and take the chance at coming back the next day.

It paid off. Everything that I had wanted was still there and was able to negotiate it all for $103! And I remembered to bring the truck so I could cart my treasures home. I had also found a charming old rocker (you can kind of see it next to the china cabinet below).

So, of course the style doesn’t match my contemporary style of my house, although the finish is spot on. There was a bit of damage to the bottom right on the front (hard to see in this photo) but there was some work to do on this. I argued for several days with myself about painting it to match the sideboard I built out of upper kitchen cabinets last year. As a whole, the china hutch was gorgeous but I could envision it in (as I call it) ‘Kitchenaide Red’ that is in abundance in the large open living area and kitchen of my home.

Eventually, I chose to go with the red. I started by removing what was left of the shiny top coat of the wood stain with help from the Kid. Made it easier to lay it down on a folding table in the garage where I could maintain a safe temperature and not have to move it out of the way while it was wet. Once the cabinet was safely prepped, I applied the grey primer. I let it sit for 24 hours so that it was ready for the first coat of red. I had three quarters of the gallon left over from the sideboard project from last year as well as more than enough primer. It was destiny, I am sure.

On went the first coat of red paint and left overnight to dry. I had to go back a few times and fill in small spots and corners I missed as well as the backs of the doors. I got a little panicky sometimes that it looked more pink than red, but I think it was just the first coat over the grey and the really bad lighting in the garage after dark.

Second coat of red went on Sunday morning, with the usual touch ups and missed spots. Let it sit for a few hours and then me and the Kid moved it inside to dry. Oh, and inside the upper section of the cabinet, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. First, I primed it right along with everything else and then opted for white. But I think that will draw too much attention to itself. So, I went back after that dried and used a matte black. I am going to replace the wood shelves with glass and install lights on top, so that my treasures will really stand out. (Note to self: buy glass shelves and lighting components).

Still have to do the accent painting in the carving, tough to see in the photo above, install shelves and lighting and put on hardware. Right now I am wavering between clear glass knobs and pulls or going all out and getting black. Not sure if that would be too much or not. Guess I will just have to try them both and see which fancies me.

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Update: Three weeks later… it seemed like it took forever to find a place to cut the glass shelves. The Home Depot and Lowe’s no longer cut glass, something to do with insurance. I finally found this great place in Gladstone that cut them. Took a week for them to be ready though. In the meantime I received the black glass handles and knobs and they look awesome. I used a paint pen to fill in the carving and I love the way it pops. The color turned out spectacular, if I do say so myself.

The finished craft cabinet.

So, I am really happy about the way that the cabinet turned out. Even after (almost) eight years, I am still in love with my ‘Kitchenaide Red’ everything and am sure that I will love living with it for a long time to come.

Well, that’s it for today. Now that the cabinet is finally completed and I have been able to get all my crafting supplies stored neatly inside, I can move on to finish some of my other projects.

Come back and check out the blog when you can, and have a crafty day!

Julie

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About MacCupcake

Obviously, a big Mac fan (my first Mac was the first Mac) and mother to the most awesome kid in the world. A techno-junkie and self-proclaimed geek... I love anything and everything relating to computers. Also love making things and figuring out how to make or adapt existing stuff into something new! Always ready to try something new!